Social media has become part of everyday life for millions of people. There are over 800 million active Facebook users and even David Cameron produces the occasional tweet.
It’s a powerful marketing and networking tool. But whether it’s LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, if you’re an employer you should monitor the use of social media by employees as its misuse could have serious legal consequences.
Protect your business. Make sure staff are not disclosing confidential or commercially sensitive information online that could render you, as an employer, liable for discriminatory or defamatory comments or bring your organisation into disrepute.
At the same time, employers must not infringe the rights of employees to participate in legal social media activities outside work or interfere with their rights to privacy or freedom of expression.
One safety net is a communications policy that clearly defines what is and is not acceptable use of social media and takes account of the following:- You can only enforce disciplinary action against employees using social media out of office hours and off site where they have caused the employer ‘real damage’.
- Is it appropriate for your employees to befriend clients and contacts online? If so, should these connections be allowed to continue after the employment ends?
- Disciplinary policies may need updating to include breaches of the communications policy as examples of misconduct or gross misconduct.
- Make sure your employees are aware of the communications policy and know what their rights and obligations are when using social media.
For full details of the laws applying to social media consult a solicitor.
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